What should I bear in mind when looking for a Property?
The first point to bear in mind is that Turkey is a "new" country as far as the overseas property market is concerned and will continue to evolve as it emerges as a fully free, western market and potential member of the European Union. Buying a property in an emerging market country such as Turkey is not the same as buying a property in, say, Spain or France, where millions of foreigners have already bought homes. As a result every notary, land registry, tax office, town hall and lawyer has dealt with hundreds of them. So everybody knows what to do. This is not so in Turkey. You could be the first foreigner this official has ever dealt with. This can lead to delay, confusion and frustration. You are a pioneer! Pioneers enjoy lots of benefits by being early in the market but they must expect the road to be a bit bumpy. Occasionally you may have to circle the wagons and fight off the Indians!
In Turkey there are huge numbers of properties that have no title, no planning permission or are illegally constructed. According to the Turkish Daily News (14th January 2004) there are 600,000 illegal houses in Istanbul alone! That is 6096. In the south it can be worse.